


stay with me (you're all i need)

by britishlovers



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Period-Typical Homophobia, Recreational Drug Use, Smut, and maybe some - Freeform, but i think there will be, maybe some, probably, richie and eddie are inlove, tags will be added as I go, try to convince me otherwise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-05-08 22:29:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14703753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britishlovers/pseuds/britishlovers
Summary: eddie leaves derry, but then he comes back three years laterand while everything about the small town is the same, he soon finds out that richie tozier however, is not





	1. preface

**Author's Note:**

> before we get started, eddie will be 17 and richie will be 18 when things get started so if that makes you uncomfortable, don't read  
> hope you enjoy :)

After the events that went down in that dreadful summer, Sonia Kaspbrak had finally had enough. Despite her sons pleads to stay, she packed up all their belongings and shoved them into her old, run down car. Even though she didn’t know the gory details of the nightmare that the group had been through, she knew that her son was continuously getting hurt, that he was hanging around with a bunch of trouble makers and was slowly starting to question everything she told him. Plus with the string of missing children, she had figured now was a good enough time to leave the miserable town of Derry far behind them. Her sister had said that they were welcome to stay with them until they found a place for themselves, in a city much more respectful, where Eddie could go to a better school and be surrounded by better people.

Eddie had rebelled, ofcourse he had. Even though he gone through such trauma in this town, he didn’t want to leave his friends behind. But the rebelling had just made his mother even more sure that the town was turning him into something he wasn’t.

When he broke the news to the rest of the losers, they were heartbroken. A few weeks earlier, Bev had left town, putting their group down to six. Even though she was a recent addition, her departure had left them all down in the dumps, especially Bill who everyone knew had become rather fond of the girl. And now it was Eddie’s turn.

“But you can’t leave!” Richie said as they sat at the edge of the lake, the sun beating down on their shirtless bodies.

“Yeah E-Eddie, you c-c-can’t go.”

“Who’ll fix us up when we get hurt?”

Eddie swallowed the lump in his throat, and tried his best to explain to his friends that his mothers mind was set. He purposefully didn’t look at Richie, he knew he wouldn’t be able to take the pleading look that would be on his face. Because even though he loved to annoy Eddie the most, to poke and prod him, to call him names and tell him stupid jokes about his Mum all the time, Eddie was his best friend. His _very_ best friend.

And so even though no one wanted him to leave, a couple weeks later following a sorrowful farewell to the boys he had called friends for as long as he could remember, (and maybe there were a few sniffles, tears and lingering hugs), Eddie hopped into the passenger seat of his mothers car and wiped his tears on the sleeve of his long sleeved t-shirt.

As Mrs. Kasprak put the vehicle into gear and pulled away, Eddie looked into the dusty rear-view mirror, the sight leaving his heart aching.

Everyone was there, standing in the middle of the road with the bikes laying discarded off to the side. Bill, Ben, Stanley, Mike and right in the centre of the group, Richie. The other boy had misty eyes, even though he was trying his best to conceal the sadness he felt. Eddie was consumed by guilt, and he couldn’t help the pleading words that erupted from his mouth as they got further away from the group of kids that were slowly waving their hands goodbye.

“Do we have to go?”

Mrs. Kaspbrak snorted, shaking her head. She sent a scolding look towards Eddie, and that was enough to shut him up. He had to tear his eyes away from the mirror, blinking away the tears as they turned a corner and any view he had of his friends was gone.

They had spent the entire day together, taking one last walk around the town, splashing around at the Barrens, riding their bikes through the forest and fields, buying Icecream in town. But it hadn’t felt like enough, Eddie didn’t want to leave, even after the nightmare they all went through. They were his friends, his bestfriends and Richie, god Richie. The trashmouth was a hard person to love, but once he had got under Eddie’s skin he knew he was never going to get rid of him, and he didn’t want to either. Richie was more than a bestfriend to Eddie, he was.. he was, god he didn’t know what Richie was but he sure was something.

They had spent the day before together, just the both of them. Lounging around in their rooms, going for walks together, messing around, telling jokes, hanging out at the arcade. Even though Eddie loved all his friends, there was something about Richie that brought a sense of comfort to him. And now he was gone.

Eddie let out a sigh as he leant his head back on the seat, rubbing his cheek with one hand. God he was going to miss Richie, that stupid annoying dorky idiot.

-

“A-and then there w-were five.” Bill said, breaking the silence as they watched Sonia Kaspbrak’s car turn the corner and disappear from sight. Stan let out a hum in agreement and the other two nodded their heads sadly.

Richie didn’t say anything, just blinked quickly, willing the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes to go away. A hand was placed on his shoulder and he startled, turning his head to look at Bill. The other boy offered a sad smile, his eyes full of a knowing emotion.

Richie swallowed hard, clearing his throat as he looked away. One by one the boys picked up their bikes and began to slowly leave the site of Eddie’s departure. Richie stared at the empty road for a few moments longer, his heart hurting.

“And then there were five.” He whispered to himself, a tear sliding down his cheek as he turned away and grabbed his bike.


	2. chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoy this chapter, sorry it's kind of a "setting the scene" chapter, but things will get rolling very soon

_Three years later_

Eddie was jostled awake when the car hit a bump in the road, the side of his face hitting the uncomfortable sun worn material of the car seat. With a groan he blinked open his eyes, lifting a hand to shield them from the sunlight that was filtering into the car. The radio was on low and he could faintly hear the beat of some rock song playing faintly in the background.

With a sigh he turned his head so he was facing straight once more, his eyes still scrunched up slightly due to the brightness surrounding him.

“Sorry, did I wake you up baby?” His mother asked off to his side. He internally cringed at the softness of her voice, but he knew by now not to question it, it just made things worse.

“’s okay, where are we?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep. When they had left their house, or he supposed he should say their old house, it was still early morning and the sun had hardly breached the surface of the horizon. Now, it was sitting high in the air and the sky was a brilliant blue.

“Not far away, about another ten minutes.” She said, her voice slightly tinged in annoyance. He could understand why.

For the last three years they had lived in a nice, quiet suburban town, where nothing bad ever happened and everyone seemed to live clean, perfect little lives. At the beginning they had roomed with Eddie’s aunt and her children, while his mother attempted to find a job and Eddie got settled into his new school.

Then, him and his mother had moved into a quaint little house, and she had gotten a job working at the local pharmacy (go figure, right?)

But, the job didn’t pay well, and soon enough they found themselves living back with his mother’s sister. It brought Sonia a lot of shame, even more so when she was let go from her job due to “budget cuts”. It was apparently too difficult to find another job, with all the businesses situated in the perfect little town wanting only perfect little people to be employed. So they had stayed rooming with family, Eddie barely affording to even go to school, when just one month ago Sonia Kaspbrak received a call from her old boss, voicing a job opportunity.. back in Derry.

He knew his Mum was embarrassed with having to move back and go crawling back to her old job, even though it had been three years. But she didn’t say anything.

Eddie on the other hand.. Eddie felt strange. He had no contact with Derry, or it’s residents since the day he left three years ago. He didn’t know if everything would be the same, or if it would be entirely different. He had managed to find friends at his new school, even if it was full of preppy pretentious people, but now he was being shoved into a new school… old school?

He knew they wouldn’t be moving back into his old house, as it had been sold, as much as he wished they were. Instead his mother said she had found a small flat like house that would do until they could afford something better.

Eddie wondered if his mother regretted it. Regretted letting her emotions take control of her, making her put their house up for sale and leave the only town Eddie had ever known as home. She had given up a stable job, with a big house, to go chasing her own make believe world of perfection.

And now looked where it landed them, moving back to Derry to live in a downgraded house with Sonia having to restart her previous job all over again.

Eddie was knocked out of his thinking when he noticed the car was approaching a large sign, the paint peeling around the letters slightly.

“Welcome to Derry.”

He swallowed nervously as they drove past it, and eventually the land around them began to grow more familiar to him.

“Can’t believe we’re moving back to this hellhole.” He heard his mother utter, but he chose to ignore it. Instead he sat up straighter in his seat as they entered the more suburban part of town, houses beginning to pop up all around them.

“Do you think it’ll all be the same?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the scenery outside the window. Sonia snorted, shaking her head in annoyance.

“I hope it’s not,” she answered, but Eddie wasn’t sure if he agreed. And then they were driving down the main street, and Eddie’s breath hitched.

Because it all looked the same.

The stores, there was the icecream shop they always went to, and hey look, there was the arcade! Eddie found himself leaning closer and closer to the car window, blinking in wonder as they drove through the town that he hadn’t seen in three years, but however still felt like home.

It was another couple minutes until they arrived at their house, and Eddie found his mouth hanging open slightly.

“We’re living.. _here_?” he asked, as he took in the appearance of the house without leaving the car. It was small, much smaller then their previous house, and while it looked.. okay.. it also looked slightly old, and dirty and like there would be a million different types of bacteria calling that place home too.

“Just until we can afford to move somewhere else Eddie Bear.” His mother said as she got out of the car. Eddie huffed, shaking his head in wonder as he opened the car door and stood out.

Was it weird that the air in Derry smelt different? It smelt fresh, like the outdoors, and like nature.  And even though Eddie was the biggest fan of those things, it still smelt  like home.

“Help me take some bags in please baby,” his mother asked as she opened one of the back car doors, hauling out one bag. Eddie looked back at her, and then back to the house, shaking his head slowly.

“It’s been cleaned right? Like properly cleaned, it’s not gonna be filthy is it?”

“It’s been cleaned, don’t you worry. And I’m going to clean it myself again, with the all-natural cleaning products so it doesn’t trigger your asthma, that’s the last thing we need. It better not be musty in here, maybe we should open a window, that way you won’t be breathing in the stale air a-,” her voice got lower and lower as she moved further away and eventually Eddie couldn’t hear her rambling anymore as she pushed herself into their new house.

Eddie stood there for a few more moments, looking at the house in distaste, until his mother’s loud call beckoning him to come help her made him grab a bag from the car and journey into the new house with a sigh.

 

-

It wasn’t dirty, but it wasn’t clean either. Eddie had spent way too long changing the bedsheets of the bed in his new room (which was considerably smaller than any room he’s ever had before). And then he tackled the furniture, dusting and wiping down everything until he was entirely positive there was nothing harmful living on anything situated in the small area.

He also swept the wooden floor over and over again until the last piece of dust was gone. By the end of it all, he found himself wheezing slightly, and so he scrambled for the inhaler he always kept in his pocket, using it quickly.

With a groan he moved over to the window and pushed it open, letting some of the afternoon air waft into his room. His mother was already busy cleaning the rest of the house, but he made no move to go help her.

Because, “No we can’t have you breathing any of this dust in Eddie, it’s bad for your lungs. No Eddie, we can’t have you getting tired, go rest. No Eddie, what if you hurt yourself? No Eddie, cleaning products are bad to breathe in.”

So whatever, he cleaned and got his own room ready in secret and now he didn’t know what to do.

The little amount of things they had brought with them had been distributed around the house, and it was now ticking closer to about 5 in the afternoon, the sun beginning to lower, however it was still light outside. If it was three years ago, he wouldn’t have been back from hanging out with the other losers yet.

The losers.

Thinking about them made his stomach flutter nervously.

Were they all still here? Was Richie.. was he still here?

Should he go find out? Part of him was too scared to, because what if he was still here.. would he be the same? Would he even recognise him? They were 14 when they had last seen eachother, and now Eddie had just turned 17 and Richie would be close to turning 18 soon.

A group of kids loudly riding their bikes down the road outside Eddie’s window knocked him out of his thinking. They all looked about 14-15, and their loud laughter made Eddie’s heart twinge slightly.

He missed it, he missed them.

Even though he seemed to be either put into a disgusting or a dangerous situation whenever he went out with his old friends, they were the closest friends he had ever had. No friends he made at his new school ever came close to what he felt for those boys.

And so he made the decision that come tomorrow, he’d go out and find them.


	3. chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please excuse any mistakes, it hasn't really been edited oops

Eddie forgot that it was already a few weeks into the school year, so all the kids in town would be busy for the greater part of the day, and he himself wasn’t due to start at the local highschool until next week.

So that meant from the time he woke up to late afternoon, he was stuck with the company of his mother.

She was still in the process of cleaning, wanting everything to be as perfect as she could make it for her son, who she still coddled far too much but he couldn’t do anything about it. When he groggily made his way to the kitchen that morning (because he still didn’t sleep well, often waking up with nightmares, even though the nightmare-ish incident was three years ago), she had pounced on him straight away.

“How’d you sleep? The mattress isn’t too stiff is it? Was there any ventilation in your room? No dust? Was it too cold?”

He had answered all her questions easily, it was pretty much routine for him now. Then he sat down at the table, ate the toast she had carefully made for him, and took all his daily vitamins and medications. (Even after the great “They’re gazebos! They’re bullshit!” situation, apparently Eddie still “needed” some medications and he couldn’t be bothered fighting her about it)

And then he waited. He watched some shitty TV, before his mother complained that if he watched too much he would strain his eyes and get a headache.

He helped clean up a little, before his mother complained that it was too much for him and he shouldn’t strain himself.

He attempted to read, before his mother complained that the light wasn’t bright enough and he’d wind up needing glasses soon (“Eddie do you think we should go get your eyes tested?”)

And after continuing to lounge around for the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing because apparently that’s all his mother wanted him to do, he had finally had enough.

“Mum? I’m just gonna head out for a bit, explore a little, okay? Please?” he asked as he approached her. She was sitting on the recliner chair watching daytime tv. Slowly she turned to look at him with her eyes narrowed, an apprehensive look on her face. Before she even had time to open her mouth, Eddie quickly interrupted.

“I’ll be back before it’s dark, I won’t go far, I have my inhaler, I’ll be fine.”

She studied him for a little while longer before speaking.

“Eddie, if I find out you’ve been hanging around with-“

He groaned, shaking his head. “Mum, I don’t even know if those guys are still around, okay? Plus, they probably wouldn’t even recognise me anyway!”

Finally, Mrs Kaspbrak let him go with a humph (and an embarrassing kiss to his cheek), and Eddie let out a breath of relief as he stepped outside. He was wearing whitewashed blue jeans with a few holes in them, with a white t-shirt tucked in. He didn’t wear his fanny pack anymore (ever since the kids at his old school taunted him way too much for it), so his inhaler was shoved into one of his pockets.

With a glance around, he just decided to let his feet carry him to wherever. It was a nice day, sunny but not too sunny (thank god, since he forgot to put sunscreen on), a few clouds littered the sky and there was a slight breeze about, which rustled the trees as he lazily dragged his feet along the footpath. The familiarity of the town shocked him, he had thought after three years that it would have faded away from his memory, but he seemed to remember every corner, every nook and every cranny.

Then,  he made his way down the main street, dodging all the middle aged woman tugging along young children. As he passed the bakery, the smell of the fresh bread and treats made his mouth water, and he was taken back to the days where him and his friends would look longingly into the window at all the glazed and iced treats, knowing fully well that they couldn’t afford any.

He walked past the Ice-cream shop that was a frequent visit for them when the days grew long and hot, and the only getaway from the never ending heat was a cone of iced goodness and a day spent down at the lake.

Eddie lingered near the shop, looking into the window, realising the layout was still the same, as if nothing had changed over the years he was away. After a few minutes of fond remembrance of the good old days, he continued on. Soon enough he was away from the hustle and bustle of the shopping district, and was instead walking down the suburban lanes full of houses and parked cars.

He let his mind wander and didn’t realise where he was until he was stopped outside of a once familiar (still familiar?) house.

His old house.

Everything about the outside appearance was still remotely the same, from what he could remember. The only difference was a different car being parked out the front, and the front yard was littered with a bunch of various toys. He could hear a dog barking in the backyard, and he wondered briefly what type of dog it was (he wasn’t fond of dogs, especially the big ones. They made his allergies act up, and were rough and always dirty and carried a billion different types of germs on their tongues).

As he blinked up at the house he once called home, his eyes drifted across to the window looking into one of the upper rooms. His old room. There were curtains pulled shut, so he couldn’t see in, and he couldn’t help but wonder who now slept in the room he once called his. Would it be a young child? Would it be a teenager like himself? Maybe an adult? Maybe it had been turned into something else other than a bedroom.

A million different thoughts flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t help the longing he felt, wishing he had never left this place, wishing it was still his room. He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard the front door opening, and even though he wanted to catch a glimpse of who lived in there now he hastily walked away, not wanting to be caught creepily staring at someone else’s home. (Someone else’s home, that felt weird to say, when it had been his home for the greater part of his life.)

Once again, he wasn’t entirely aware of where his feet were taking him until he stood blinking up at another once familiar (still familiar) house.

Richie Tozier’s house.

Eddie swallowed hard as he looked up at the house he spent as much time at as his own when he was younger.

Did Richie still live there?

He glanced at the car that was parked out front, but even though his memory had been kind to him so far, he had no memory of the car his parents used to drive.

Once again, like his house, everything about the outside appearance looked the same as he remembered, it was almost uncanny. He was nearly tempted to go up and knock on the door, see if Mr or Mrs Tozier would open up and welcome him inside warmly like they used to do (he used to love Richie’s parents, would much prefer to spend time with them instead of his own mother)

Memories of the two of them lounging around in Richie’s room, or eating way too many sweets (his mother would have a heart attack if she ever found out how much sugar he had consumed in Richie Tozier’s house) , watching TV programs they probably shouldn’t have been watching at that age, reading comic books while lying upside down on the couches in the living room.. his heart began to hurt. With a glance at his watch he saw that it was nearly time for school to be out, and part of him wondered if he should stick around and see if Richie ends up showing up, or if some random kid walks into the house, or if no one even makes an appearance.

But the bigger part of him was scared to see someone he used to be so close to again for the first time in years, part of him was self-conscious. Because while Eddie had gone through puberty, and evened out and grew up, he was still short, and he was still fragile, and he still got called a baby face. He was still lame, his mother still fussed over him as if he was a baby, and while 14 year old Richie hadn’t cared.. maybe 17 year old Richie would.

He was about to call the whole thing off and leave, but then distant voices that he would never forget, even if he hadn’t heard them in three years, made his blood run cold. In a quick flight or fight instinct he pushed himself into the nearby bush bordering the fence that ran around Richie’s house, wincing as a few sticks snagged at his skin (great, his mother was going to fucking murder him). As the voices grew nearer, he told himself to breath and not pay any mind to the fact that there were probably a bunch of bugs sharing the same space as him right now.

“Gross, gross, gross,” was the constant thought playing over and over again in his mind, and he found himself squeezing his eyes shut. What a fucking loser, he really hadn’t changed at all, had he? As the voices got nearer, he found himself trying not to breathe, not wanting the approaching people to hear him.

“’- should head down to the quarry, i got a few joints that i stole from my dad’s room, let’s go light ‘em up,” Vic Criss said, and Eddie opened his eyes slightly, peering through the leaves and sticks to see the group that had been the centre front of all his childhood bullying. Why were they still fucking here? They should have graduated last year, surely they wanted to do more with their lives instead of hanging around the same town, but then Eddie realised he was talking about the bowers gang, and that they probably didn’t even have the brains to leave this town.

Eddie could see four pairs of legs, but could only make out Vic and Henry. He was guessing one of the others was Belch, because it seemed like they were still living out their fucking cliched lives together, but who was the last person?  

“It’s too fucking far to the quarry, let’s just go down to the junkyard and light ‘em up there,” Henry added and Eddie felt himself subconsciously lean further away. He could still vividly remember the entirety of Henry Bower’s taunts and antics, could still remember all the times he had physically hurt Eddie, and all the times he had physically hurt Richie because Richie could never keep his mouth shut.

“What’d you say, Tozier?”

Eddie felt all the air leave his lungs as that name came out of Henry’s mouth. There was no way he just said that, no way he was talking to Richie, no way Richie was even with them.

But then he heard his voice, deeper and thicker, but still his voice. And while the situation made him utterly confused, the voice brought him some comfort.

“Fuck yes, just got to go tell my parents some bullshit so they don’t have an aneurysm, wait here,” and then Richie stepped out from behind the others and Eddie’s breath hitched again. From what he could see, he was still tall (well, definitely taller than him), and still had wild and unruly hair, and while his current glasses didn’t look as thick as his old ones, he still definitely had them on. He was wearing a purple plaid shirt with light blue jeans and his limbs were still long and lanky, just like they used to be.

Eddie found himself leaning and craning his head to get a better look at his old friend, but then he accidentally lost his balance and found himself falling a little, some twigs snapping under his weight, one sticking into his palm.

“Ow, fuck,” he said, and then immediately clamped his mouth shut, eyes widening in fear as he saw the group turn around.

“The fuck was that?” Belch asked, and his blood ran cold as he saw Henry look into the bush and catch his eye. His smile widened into an ugly manic grin and he thumped Vic’s shoulder roughly.

“Oh my fucking god, we’ve got a peeping tom over here boys!” he said loudly, and while Eddie was too busy focused on the Bowers Gang to notice, Richie stopped and turned on his way to his front door, a confused look on his face.

Eddie was frozen in fear for a few seconds, until Henry took a step forward and then his natural instincts screamed at him to “RUN RUN RUN”

And so he did, he hastily scrambled up, the sticks tugging at his clothing and scraping his skin, as he did his best to quickly get up and turn to run, he heard Vic yell, “Quick get him!!”

His heart was beating fast and he steadied himself on his feet before taking off, but before he even got two steps, a pair of arms snaked under his and grasped him across his chest, lifting him up off his feet slightly.

“No!” he choked, shaking his head, trying his best to get away while wondering how the fuck he managed to get himself into the same situation he had been in countless of times three years ago.

“L-let me go, please,” he wheezed as he struggled to break free, a rough and smoke scented breath panting roughly against the side of his face.

“No way,” Belch panted into his ear. During his futile attempts to get away, Henry and Vic circled around so they were facing him, and that’s when Eddie stopped struggling. He could briefly feel his airway tightening, and he knew soon he would need to use his inhaler. Panic was slowly started to creep in, and he gasped for air as Henry stepped closer, the ugly smirk on his lips growing wider.

He was scared, scared that in a couple moments one of their eyes would open wider in recognition and their evil laughter would fill the air as they threw all of his old nicknames at him.

Wheezy.

Girly boy.

Faggot.

“Rich, c’mere. Looks like there was a queero hoping to catch a glimpse of ya,”

Eddie lungs tightened even more and he shook his head, Belch’s laughter loud in his ear. Henry was right infront of him now, and he could smell the scent of stale smoke on his clothing.

“What’re we gonna do with you, eh?” he asked menacingly, and Eddie was lost for words.

But then Richie appeared behind him, and now he really felt like he couldn’t breathe.

Because Richie.. he was right there, and he.. he was really fucking.. fucking beautiful, and all at once the fear seemed to calm because Richie was here and Richie was going to protect him, like always.

But then he saw the smile pulling at Richie’s lips, and he felt his heart being stomped on, fear taking control of his entire fucking body as Vic rested one arm on his shoulder.

He was one of them. He was fucking one of them.

And then he really couldn’t breathe, and he tried desperately to reach the inhaler in his pocket, but Belch had his arms secured. He wheezed and gasped and felt tears pricking at his eyes, and the others just laughed.

“Shut the fuck up, Wheezy.”

And even though Henry, Vic and Belch didn’t recognise him or the nickname, Richie’s smile disappeared and his eyes widened in shock as the nickname brought him to his senses. Eddie had his eyes clenched shut, trying to control his breathing and stop himself from crying, but Richie’s eyes flicked over his entire body and face, and suddenly the familiarity was oh so clear.

“Eddie?”

At the mention of his name Eddie opened his eyes and sought out Richie’s. He managed to nod his head slightly, and then Richie was sucking in a sharp breath.

“Holy fuck, Eddie, what the fuck,” Richie rushed up and crowded into his space and Vic’s arm fell off his shoulder, falling to his side.  Henry tossed Richie a confused glance as he was pushed out of the way, an annoyed frown tugging at his lips.

“Belch, let him the fuck go,” And Belch reluctantly did, but he still did.. like Richie had some sort of fucking power over him. And Eddie was about to fall to the ground because he couldn’t fucking breathe but then he felt Richie’s arms hold him up, and it was all so familiar but at the same time it was all so different. Suddenly Richie looked panicked, and he looked at Belch quickly. “He could fucking die and we can’t have that shit on our hands, okay?” he explained, and Belch simply nodded in confusion, looking over them to the others.

“Eddie? Hey, you’re okay, where’s your inhaler, where’s your fucking inhaler Eds?”

And that was enough to bring Eddie back to the present. He scrambled to his pocket and pulled it out, shoving it into his mouth and letting air be pumped down his throat. After a few moments, he could breathe again.

And like countless times before, as if it was instinct, he uttered the next familiar words easily.

“Don’t call me Eds,”

A laugh escaped from Richie’s mouth, it was a shocked laugh, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, what he was seeing. Eddie slowly looked upwards, until he was properly facing the taller boy, and despite the terrifying situation he was in, he couldn’t help but smile slightly as Richie’s lips tugged into a warm grin.

“What the fuck? No way, it actually is Wheezy?” Henry asked, a disbelieving laugh erupting from his mouth. Eddie was pushed back into reality and he stiffened in Richie’s hold. He watched Richie swallow nervously, and then he stepped back, and the feeling of comfort went with him.

It was like Richie was having some sort of internal battle, it had been three years but still Eddie could read him so easily. And then he watched as Richie raised an eyebrow, acting as if everything that had just happened, didn’t.

“Yeah, the fuck you doing back here Kaspbrak?” he asked, and Eddie’s eyebrows furrowed. Belch had joined the others, and now the four of them were standing in front of him and Richie.. Richie was at the head, standing right beside Henry Bowers. Henry was looking at Richie apprehensively, and he could see Richie’s fingers twitch slightly, something he did when he was nervous. But then Henry turned his head and looked back at Eddie, and his menacing smile was back.

“Never thought I’d see you again, Girly boy.” Henry added, but Eddie couldn’t tear his eyes away from Richie. Just a few years ago, Richie had been his bestfriend, his other half pretty much and even just a few seconds ago he had come to his aid, had essentially rescued him, but now he was standing next to Henry Bowers with his arms crossed and a stupid smirk on his face acting like some sort of fucking douche and it fucking hurt. Feelings of confusion, and betrayal swamped Eddie then, and he couldn’t help the disbelieving scoff that erupted from him as his lips turned down into a disgusted scowl.

Richie’s smirk faltered, his eyebrows drawing in slightly behind the frames of his glasses.

“Should we have some fun with him boys?”

Eddie’s heart rate picked up again and he took a few panicked steps backward, shaking his head.

“Teach him a lesson for spying, eh? Teach him a lesson for being a queer?” Nic added, snickering as he bumped Richie’s shoulder with his own. Richie huffed out a laugh, but there was nothing behind it, and instead it seemed he was growing anxious, throwing glances to his house, then back to Eddie.

Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife and Eddie felt like he was going to throw up.

“Like Rich said, we can’t have death on our hands boys.. but a lil bit of pain never hurt anyone, eh?”

Just as he was about to make a move towards Eddie, Richie stuck his arm out, hitting Bowers in the chest and stopping him. Henry looked angry as he turned to face him, and Richie quickly spat out some panicked words.

“Let’s not waste time on him, kay? He already looks like he’s gonna piss himself, and he’s scratched up, right? He’s gonna go running back to mummy and she’s gonna have a meltdown and we won’t see him around for a few days, let’s just let it go.”

Eddie felt it ping at his heart with every word that came out of Richie’s mouth, and he blinked quickly to keep the tears at bay.

The gang was quiet for a few seconds before Henry nodded stiffly, slipping the knife back into his pocket.

“Go run home to Mummy, Wheezy. Let her kiss it all better.”

“And if you don’t want the kisses, I’ll take them.” Richie said with a wink. A few years ago it would have made him huff with fond annoyance, but now it made him angry, and fucking devastated.

“Meet you at the junkyard in a few, Tozier. You run off home now fag, before I change my mind.”

He sent one last sneer towards Eddie, and then Henry, followed by the other two, turned around and left, bumping shoulders with each other and laughing loudly.

Suddenly it was just the two of them. The further away the Bowers Gang got, Richie seemed to relax bit by bit. It was silent, the only sound the wind rustling around them, but as Richie opened his mouth to speak, Eddie beat him to it.

“Fuck you, Richie Tozier.” He said, his voice wobbling slightly.

Richie opened his mouth to say something back, but then shut it, his head tilted down. Quickly wiping a few tears with the back of his hand, Eddie shook his head in disbelief and turned around, ignoring the hurt he felt in his chest.

“Eddie, wait, it’s complicated oka-“

“Beep beep, Richie.” He called back over his shoulder. Richie shut his mouth instantly, a flare of warmth sparking up due to the familiar phrase but it was quickly drenched with guilt and hurt as he watched the boy he used to bestfriends with walk away with tears forming in his eyes and a sore heart.


	4. chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy <3 thanks for all your lovely comments, it really makes my day reading them! x

Luckily for him, he wasn’t too scratched up, so it was easy enough to conceal the light scratches that had been caused by the sticks. He had to stand outside his front door for a solid five minutes wiping his face and taking a few breaths, if his mother found out he was upset over something he’d never hear the end of it.

After a few moments, he walked in. Sonia’s head looked up straight away, eyes dancing all over her son as he walked into the house, assessing him, judging him.

“Did you run into anyone you know?” she asked curiously, and Eddie’s chest tightened slightly.

He shook his head, looking at the floor.

“No, no one.” He mumbled quietly. Sonia seemed please by that, so she went back to watching her TV, leaving Eddie to trudge to his room and throw his door shut. He fell face first onto the bed and groaned, clenching his eyes shut.

So everything in this stupid town was exactly the same, except for Richie fucking Tozier. He still couldn’t believe it, believe what he had just witnessed. There was no way Richie had joined the Bowers Gang.. why? What happened to the others? Eddie was so utterly confused, he buried his face into his pillow and tried to think about anything else other than what had just happened.

-

The next morning, he woke up a lot less hopeful about the town compared to yesterday. He laid in bed until about 9am, staring up at the ceiling and just blinking, but then his mother knocked on his door and asked if he was okay, is he sick, does he need to go to the doctor, so he got up with a groan and threw some clothes on.

It was Saturday, so school was out and if he was to go out today like he did yesterday, there would be no doubt that he’d run into someone he used to know. As he was sitting at the table eating his cereal slowly, his mother sat down opposite of him with the newspaper.

“Ran into Sharon Denbrough down the street,” she piped up, and Eddie looked up instantly, chewing the cereal in his mouth.

“Told me how well Bill is going, still stuttering, but getting a lot better. He’s one of the good ones, you know? Not like some of the others in that group you used to hang out with. She hasn’t seen that Tozier boy for a while, good riddance, he was the worst, the one always getting you into trouble Eddie. Said you’re welcome to go over anytime if you’d like to. They’re a good family, I won’t mind.”

Eddie listened to everything silently, and when his Mum looked up from the paper he nodded his head.

“I might go visit after breakfast,” he said and Mrs. Kaspbrak hummed, going back to reading her paper. He wasn’t entirely sure why she was bringing it up, because usually anything to do with the losers club she hated, she didn’t want her son hanging around with them.

Maybe she just didn’t want him to be lonely, maybe deep down she actually cared about something worth caring about.

And so after he had cleaned up after himself, and kissed his mother goodbye, he left their little house and once again walked down the streets of Derry, heading towards Bill’s house (or what he hoped was still Bill’s house).

Except now, he was a lot more fucking cautious. Everytime he turned a corner, he looked around. If he heard people behind him, he spun around, his eyes always on the lookout for those notorious bullies who still hadn’t learnt to grow up. Especially since it was now the weekend, they could be anywhere. He seemed to pick up his pace a little, until he was crossing the front yard of the Denbrough house and knocking quickly on the door.

He heard some commotion behind the door, and then suddenly the door opened, and Eddie was left blinking back at Bill Densbrough.

“Oh, shit, Bill.. hey,” he said awkwardly, clearing his throat. He didn’t know what to expect, after his run in with Richie he was scared that everyone he once knew had changed.

Bill furrowed his eyebrows in confusion slightly, but then his eyes lit up in recognition.

“Eddie?” he asked with a grin, and Eddie couldn’t help but smile, nodding his head. And then he was being pulled into a tight hug, which he was quick to return.

“It’s so g-good to see you a-again, holy shit!” he said with a laugh, and Eddie laughed too, feeling tears beginning to form in his eyes because _this._ This was familiar and this was right.

“C-come in, the others are h-here actually!” he said, tugging Eddie inside the house. The others? As he was lead through the house (and everything was the same! It was the same!) and into the living room, he couldn’t help the shocked breath that left his lungs.

Because there, lounging on the couches and watching something on TV as if nothing in the world had changed, was Ben, Stan and Mike.

They all looked different, but at the same time they all looked the same.

“G-guys, Eddie’s b-back!” Bill declared, and Eddie shuffled awkwardly on the spot.

“Eddie?” Stan queried, turning his head, then when his eyes landed on him, he broke into a familiar grin, rushing to hit feet to pull Eddie into a hug.

“Eddie! Holy shit!” Ben said as he scrambled to his feet, closely followed by Mike.

They joined the hug too, and Eddie laughed as he was squeezed into a giant group hug with the people (most of the people) he was closest to in the entire world.

And then it didn’t take them long to have Eddie squashed onto the couch between them, asking him questions about his old town, his old school, what’s been happening, why he was back.

Eddie was happy to answer, feeling oh so at ease with them even though it had been three years since he saw them last.

But then came a question that made him choke on his words slightly.

“Have you ran into anyone else you know?” Mike asked, and Eddie swallowed nervously, shrugging slightly. He wanted to just brush it off, but he knew he couldn’t lie to these guys, not like he could lie to his mother.

“I-um. I ran into ah, Richie, yesterday.” He said awkwardly, and raised his eyebrows when the group sucked in shocked breaths.

“J-just R-richie?” Bill asked, probing more of an answer out of him. Eddie sighed, looking down at his hands which were fiddling with a loose thread on his shirt.

“I ran into the Bowers Gang… and Richie was with them.”

Bill let out a sad sigh, and he nodded his head, letting himself fall back onto the couch. Eddie looked at him, then looked to his other side where Mike and Ben sat, Stanley sitting with his legs crossed on the floor. They all looked slightly sad and were nodding their heads, like they expected it.

“I-is.. why,” he didn’t know what to ask, so he cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing.

“What happened?”

It was brief, but the others caught on. Bill shrugged a little, looking towards the door. Eddie wandered if he was hurting too, Richie had been pretty close to him (but not as close as he was to Eddie).

“It happened about a year after you left,” Stanley piped up instead, causing Eddie to look down to him, nodding his head, waiting for more.

“I don’t really know why.. I don’t think anyone knows why.. he just started hanging out with us less and less and started hanging out with.. _them_.. more and more and then suddenly it was like he didn’t even know us anymore.”

“He’s popular now, did you know that?” Ben added, shaking his head with a scoff.

“Always got girls drooling over him, everyone wants to be friends with him, he’s like.. he’s an asshole now. He’s one of them.”

Eddie couldn’t seem to wrap his around it, he just couldn’t see the Richie he used to know acting the way they were describing him.

“What happened to Foureyes and Fuckface? What, did Henry and his gang just suddenly stop giving him shit?”

All three of them nodded, and Eddie was so utterly confused. He thought he was going to get answers from them, and in a way he did, but not the ones he wanted.

“So no one knows why, or how. Suddenly he’s just.. one of them.. do any of you even speak to him anymore.. at all?”

They all shook their head, but then Bill spoke up.

“The o-only interaction we h-have with him i-is w-when the B-Bowers Gang are being d-dicks to us,”

“But he doesn’t usually say anything. He just stands in the back,” Mike adds.

“Maybe he feels guilty?” Eddie asks carefully, and they all snort and shake their heads.

“Whatever, he’s not one of us anymore okay Eddie? If you came back expecting to find your Trashmouth exactly the way he was, you’re gonna be disappointed.”

The words were sharp, and they snicked his heart a little, but he swallowed the hurt and nodded his head. Bill placed a hand on his shoulder and offered a sad smile. It was quiet for a few moments before Stan piped up.

“So, anyone up for Ice-cream?”

-

Sitting at one of the outside booths at the Ice-cream parlour surrounded by his friends was bringing back fond memories, and making him feel more at home then he had for years.  He had gotten a vanilla icecream with sprinkles, but found it was mostly melting all over his hands as he kept getting distracted with the stories and jokes coming from his friends.

“Ben had a girlfriend last year,” Mike said to Eddie, causing him to splutter on his icecream. He wiped his mouth with his hand, looking at Ben in disbelief.

“You had a girlfriend?”

“Jeez Eddie, you’re acting like it’s something out of the ordinary..” he whined, and Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Sorry to break it to you Ben, but it kind of is.. I mean you were always so awkward around Bev an-ow!”

Ben kicked his shin from under the table and the group broke out in laughter, including Eddie. It felt good.

“So what happened then?” Eddie asked, finishing off his icecream which was now just a gooey mush.

Ben got quiet and pouted, so Mike answered for him.

“She left him for George Wheeler in the grade above us.”

“Aw man, I’m sorry Ben.”

He shrugged and looked down at his lap.

“She smelt like tuna anyway.”

That caused the group to laugh again, and Eddie found that for the first time in a long time, his cheeks were sore from smiling, even if someone was missing.

-

It was early afternoon by the time they had parted ways, Eddie giving everyone separate hugs.

“I’m so glad you’re back, Eddie. It hasn’t been the same without you,” Stan said, and Eddie hugged him just a little bit tighter for that reason.

“Glad to be back,” he said, walking backwards and waving to the group.

“I’ll see you guys soon, yeah?” he asked, and the others didn’t even hesitate to nod. As he turned around and continued to walk away, he found comfort in knowing that he wasn’t alone here, that his friends were still here, even if Richie was apparently a total asshole now.

He was just walking past the butcher store when suddenly a hand was clamped around his mouth from behind and he was pulled into an alleyway by a strong set of arms.


	5. chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am SO sorry for the delay. i got super busy but today i got a whole heap of muse for this story once again so here you go, this is just a small chapter to get me back into the swing of things. enjoy, and let me know yours thoughts? <3

As Eddie was pulled backwards into the alleyway, panic set in. He instinctively began to struggle against whoever had their arms wrapped around him, but they were obviously much bigger, and stronger, than Eddie himself. Oh god, he was getting kidnapped. Or mugged. Someone was going to hurt him, kill him. His heart was pounding as he was pulled into the darkness, and he was just about to bite his captors hand and attempt to scream and struggle free, when he was gently pushed up against the brick wall and a familiar face popped up infront of his.

“Richie?” he mumbled loudly against the other boys palm, his words coming out muffled. His heart rate, while still rabbiting from the shock, was slightly slowing down as the other boy looked at him with pleading eyes, his face framed with his crazy black curls.

“Yeah, it’s just me,  I wanted to talk to you privately.”

Eddie’s eyes widened and then narrowed. His hands found Richie’s chest and he pushed him away, the other boys hand falling from it’s position against Eddie’s mouth. Truthfully, Richie let himself be pushed away. It wouldn’t take much to go against Eddie’s struggles.

“And you couldn’t just pull me aside like a normal fucking person? You had to put your dirty ass hand over my mouth?” Eddie spat, one of his hand’s rubbing over his mouth in an attempt to wipe away any muck that was on Richie’s hand. Who knew what the other boy had been up to. Richie looked sheepish, one of his hands was rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and the tip of one of his scuffed up sneakers kicked against the ground.

“I didn’t know if you would talk to me..” he said softly, and Eddie was confused for a second. His eyebrows furrowed, and he was just about to ask why, why wouldn’t Eddie talk to him, they were best friends, when it dawned on him. Because they weren’t best friends anymore, Richie was apart of the Bower’s Gang now. Anger prickled his skin as he levelled his gaze with the other boy’s.

“I wouldn’t have, and truthfully, I don’t want to be talking to you now either.” He said stiffly. He turned, and was just about to leave the shadows of the alleyway, when a hand curled around his arm softly. The delicate touch made him pause, and he turned his head slowly only to be faced with a sullen looking Richard Tozier.

.“Please, just let me explain Eds.”

Eddie shouldn’t, he should tell Richie to go shove his apology up his ass, and then he should leave and go back home, and focus on his other friends, who weren’t total assholes now. But there was something about the soft and pleading way that Richie was looking at him, and the ever present familiarity that came with him, that made him stay. However, he still dramatically pulled his arm from the other boy’s grasp, and shot him an annoyed look.

“Don’t call me that.” He replied easily, naturally even. A ghost of a smile appeared on Richie’s face, but soon disappeared when Eddie didn’t return it (even though part of him wanted to.)

A tense silence settled around the two teenagers then, and after a few minutes Eddie huffed, his arms crossing over his chest in annoyance.

“Well, go on then, explain!” He said, and that seemed to snap Richie back into reality. He cleared his throat, and Eddie would be lying if he said his eyes didn’t dart down to track the movement of the curly haired boy’s Adam’s apple as he swallowed nervously.

“Right,” he began, a hand raising to brush itself through the windswept curls quickly. Eddie’s eyes did a quick and discreet once over of the other boy. He was wearing a black band shirt tucked into a pair of white washed blue jeans, completed with a pair of white, mud stricken sneakers. His hair was pushed back from his face messily, glasses sitting delicately atop his nose. Eddie suddenly felt self-conscious, because Richie had seriously matured since the last time the two had seen each other. While he had always been taller, he was even taller now, and even though he was still lanky, he managed to effortless look good and pull off the style of clothing he chose to wore. Eddie hadn’t been able to properly regard him the day before, and now he found himself paying too close attention to the other boy’s still-the-same-yet-not-really-features, because he nearly missed the words that were coming out of his mouth.

“I know you’re probably like.. confused..” he began, and Eddie couldn’t help the snort that came from him. Richie sighed, his head hanging back slightly.

“Look, it’s a long story, okay. I’m just, like really sorry for yesterday and I know it must look bad-“

“Look bad?” Eddie interrupted with a bewildered voice. “Of course it looks bad, Richie. You’re friends with.. with the guys who used to torment us! Beat us up!”

Richie looked down, his teeth clamping down on his bottom lip softly as he nodded at Eddie’s words. When he looked back up, Eddie couldn’t help but notice the redness of his lips, like biting them was something he did often.

“It’s a.. it’s a long story.”

“Yeah, right, of course it is.” Eddie replied, turning to look back out at the street so he didn’t have to watch the other boy feel sorry for himself. Because knowing Richie, he would easily be able to make Eddie forget about everything if he tried, but Eddie wasn’t going to let that happen. Not this time.

“It’s not what it looks like, really.” Richie began, but Eddie didn’t turn to face him. He did, however, stay silent and still as he waited for the other boy to continue. And he did, after a soft sigh.

“I’m not really friends with them.. well, I guess I am. Sort of. I don’t like.. I don’t beat people up, or whatever.”

“Do they?” Eddie asked, finally turning to look back at him. He didn’t even know why he asked that, because after yesterday’s events the obviously answer was “yes”.

Richie looked troubled again, but Eddie simply raised an eyebrow and regarded him silently until the other boy reluctantly nodded.

“And what do you do? Stand there and watch? Do nothing?” he spat, frustration, anger and confusion evident in his tone. Richie winced and shrugged his shoulders.

“Look, Eddie, I- they’re my friends, okay? I don’t always have to agree with what they do. I can’t control them, they’re adults...”

“But you’ll let them shove me around, and call me faggot, and fairy, and girly boy, right?” he asked, and the sharpness of his words made Richie’s shoulders slump.

“Eds…” he began, but it seemed like he didn’t know what to say.

“It’s okay, Richie, you don’t have to explain. I get it. You got tired of being a loser, like the rest of us, so you used them to gain popularity and now you’re too scared to go against them because you know as soon as you step out of line, they’ll go back to calling you four eyes and fuck face, right? Cause they don’t give a shit about you, you know that?”

“Shut up!” Richie snapped suddenly, and the breath was taken out of Eddie as two hands collided with his chest. Suddenly his back was pushed up against the bricks again, and he didn’t dare breathe as Richie glared at him with cold eyes, his fingers clutching tightly to Eddie’s shirt. His heart rabbited, and for a split second he thought he had pushed Richie too far and now he was going to get a mouthful of fist as punishment, but then Richie’s eyes softened and his grip on Eddie’s shirt slackened.

“Please, shut up,” Richie continued, more softly. His breath fanned against Eddie’s face, and he was so close that he could count the freckles dotted across Richie’s nose, see the flecks of gold in his eyes that were hidden behind the frames of his glasses.

“You left me, Eds,” Richie continued, shaking Eddie from his thoughts. Eddie’s eyes widened, and he opened and shut his mouth a few times.

“You left me, and then everything changed.”

“I-I didn’t leave you on purpose Richie, I had to leave.” Eddie managed to answer softly. “And it’s not like you were alone.. you had the others.”

Richie sighed and released Eddie, however he didn’t move away, opting to keep the close proximity between the two.

“After you left.. I didn’t want everyone else to leave me, I didn’t want to be left alone, okay? And so I tried making other friends, with all sorts of people. But it only worked with Henry and the others.”

“But I doubt they’re really your friends, Rich. And the others didn’t leave, did they? They’re all still here, and now I’m back. You don’t have to hang out with them if you don’t want to.”

“You don’t get it, people don’t call me Bucky Beaver anymore, they don’t call me four eyes. People talk to me, they invite me to parties, I can get with girls, Eddie, you wouldn’t believe how many girls I can get with. And it’s all because of them, if I drop them… I know they’ll make my life a living hell again. And I have it good right now.”

For some reason, none of what Richie was staying sunk in, aside from – “Girls?”

Richie blinked back at him in surprise, an eyebrow raising curiously, a soft pink coating the apples of his cheeks.

“Y-yea, we aren’t kids anymore, Eds. Surely you- you’ve gotten with a girl by now, right?”

Eddie opened his mouth, but nothing came out. No, he hadn’t. He hadn’t even really thought about getting with a girl, wasn’t interested in it at all. When no words came out, realisation dawned on Richie’s face.

“Oh shit, really?” he breathed, a smirk growing on his lips. Heat spread across Eddie’s cheeks, and he stubbornly looked away.

“Shut up,” he said, causing Richie to laugh softly. The sound drew his eyes back, and the sight of that once but still familiar smile caused his lips to unwillingly pull up into a smile too.

“Don’t worry, there’s still time. Let me work my Tozier magic on you and you’ll be getting girls throwing themselves at you in no time.”

Eddie scrunched his nose up, trying to keep the distaste he felt from the words become too obvious.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” he answered. The other boy tilted his head, his eyes squinted in a thoughtful manner.

“No? Are you sure? I’m happy to share you kn-“

Eddie couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him. He gently shoved Richie in response, making the taller boy laugh quietly as he stepped backwards. Now with Richie’s distracting face out of the way, Eddie finally felt like he could breathe again. He fumbled forward a few steps, and then looked out to the street.

He wanted to hear more of what Richie had to say, but he didn’t particularly want to keep conversing whilst standing in the middle of a dirty, oil slicked, rat infested alleyway.

Richie, seeming to understand the look of dilemma growing on Eddie’s face, huffed to himself quietly as he walked past the other boy, their shoulders brushing.

“Want to get out of here?” Richie asked, and Eddie couldn’t help the way his heart leapt at the words. It sounded so much like something a hot jock in some stupid rom-com movie would say to a girl he was trying to pick up, and Eddie felt troubled when he realised he definitely wouldn’t mind if that was Richie’s motive. But as the older boy stepped out into the sunshine and glanced around quickly, most likely double checking to see if Henry Bowers and his gang weren’t anywhere around, Eddie had to tell himself to stop thinking like that.

Those type of thoughts weren’t helpful three years ago, and they definitely weren’t helpful now.

“’m sure the parents would be ecstatic to see Eddie Bear again. You always were their favourite.”

Richie’s voice knocked him out of his thoughts, and he replied with a roll of his eyes and a thump to Richie’s chest as he matched pace with the other boy, making Richie let out an “oof”. The tension had disappeared, and was replaced with a calmness, a comfort he hadn’t felt around anyone for three long years.

As they stepped back out onto the main street of Derry, Eddie had to stop and squint slightly as his eyes got used to the bright sunlight once more. Richie was already walking away, shoes scuffing along the broken sidewalk. Once Eddie could see clearly again, his focused his gaze onto Richie’s back, and watched the way the sunlight cocooned him like an aura.

“You coming, Kaspbrak?” Richie called loudly, making Eddie shake his head to clear his mind again. He blushed slightly as he jogged a few steps to catch up to the other boy, their shoulders almost brushing with every step they took.

“So, how is Mrs. K?” Richie began, and Eddie hung his head back with a groan because he already knew what was coming.

“I bet she missed me. That’s why she packed you up and moved you back here, cause she wants to board the Tozier Train again huh?”

And Eddie laughed, as he bumped his shoulder against the taller boy’s and told him to shut up. And Richie laughed back, turning to look at Eddie with wide eyes that sparkled in the sunshine and his lips pulled up into a warm smile.

And yeah, this was how it was meant to be.

This was _right._


End file.
